Ticket strip



c. A. FLOOD TICKET STRIP June 28, 1938.

Filed April 13, 1937 2 Sheet Qs-Sheet 1 jnaaneor M .27. mad

June 28, 1938. Q A LO D' 2,121,865

TICKET STRl-P Filed April 15, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented lune 2 8 1938 v t I UNITED STATES PATENT'OFFICE' Carl A. Flood, Framingham, Masa, as'signor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 18, 1937, Serial No. 136,599 10 Claims. (or 281-) This invention relates to improved ticket strips receive printing thereon. When a "multi-section and to tickets which are provided by separating ticket of this type is provided, feed .slots may be the strips into separate parts. In accordance afforded between each section of the ticket, the with this invention, tickets to be employed, for connecting material between adjoining .sections 5 example, as price tickets, may be provided in an 'which are to be separated being wholly within the 1 5 elon ate strip which may be conveniently fold d path of the knife which is operated to cut the back and forth on itself 80 that th Strip ay sections apart, and connecting material between be furnished to the user in a flat Package Of 00 adjoining sections which are not to be, separated h n compact f rmcket strips of this type being disposed outside of the path .of the knife.

y conveniently b p te d Sep ated o Thus a strip of this type may have its successive 10 Separate tickets by a machine t e type dissections fed to printing position by a feed finger Closed in my cepehdlng pp cat on Se al N0-- engaging. the successive feed openings or slots, 136,598,1i1ed'0n even d herewithand the cutter may operate'onceduring each An important feature of the p se t invention cycle of the machine irrespective of whether or 15 involves the provision of a t et strip wh r not it is desired to have the cutter separate the 15- the tickets are Separated y preformed slits and sections or not. Thus when adjoining sections y Short preformed feeding S o s aligned there? are to be separated, the cutter, for example, may with. there being narrow cks of t e sheet cut through the narrow connecting necks at the teriel at each end of a feed t- These necks ends ofa' feed slot, these necks'afiording the only flfiel'd a sllflleiehtly Strong attachment so that the connections between the adjoining sections, while 20 parts of the t p P p y hold together as the when the cutter moves between adjoining sections successive tickets are being fed to the printing which are t t be separated, there is material machine and Printed, although y afford outside of the path of the cutter which continues tively little resistance to folding S t e Strip to afford an effective connection between the secmay readily be folded between ticket sections to hon e after th tt r has operated. If deaffeld a p t P I sired, for example, the feed slots between such These narrow necks can readily be cut by a Sections, may be wide enough to receive t c narnarrow bipartite cutter which is actuated either cutter so t t th cutter, although passing a ua y r m a a y. The cutt may be between the sections, does'not cut any material arranged so that the cuts provided thereby are between these ti n or if desired additional 30 aligned with the slits and the slots so that the connecting at ri l may be afforded outside of separated tickets have relatively smooth out the necks which are severed by the cutter, such edges extending along their entire widths rather additional tc l mprising, for example, a then the rough edges that are efierded When third connecting neck which is not cut by the forated tickets are torn apart. Preferably these cutteh c 35 edges of the tickets are free from protuberances' In the accompanying drawings: so that they may readily be received in the guide 'Fig 1 i a plan view of a portion of a ticket Dortlohs 0f $11011 as are Shown in my strip made in accordance with this invention;

United States Patent 2,014,727, issued p- Fig. 2 is a plan View of a single ticket out from 40 tember 1'7, 1935. Furthermore, if desired, the t t ip h wn in Fig. 1; 40 narrow necks can reedhy be the elite and Figs. 3 and 4 are views, respectively, similar s e h t y defining the lines albng which t Figs. 1 and 2 but showing another type of the tickets are separated, so that if the tickets. ticket trip and a corresponding t eof ticket; are torn apart, there is little possibility that the Figs. 5 and 6 are views, respectively i i line of tear will depart from this line to injure t Figs. 1 and 2 but showing another type of 45 the ticket, might otherwlse be t case- More ticket strip and a corresponding type of. ticket; ever, if gieslred, the necks et the ticketsrmay' l Figs. 7 and 8 are views, respectively, similar to be readlly creasedby kmfe rather than being Figs. 1 and 2 but showing another type of ticket entirely out apart, so that the tickets may subse- Strip and a corresponding type of t t;

quently be more readily separated by tearing. Fig 9 is a side elevaticnal View f a ti k t stri 50 In accordance with this invention, the ticket f this character in folded position the upper I strip may comprise individual ticket sections depart of t t p being shown partially unfolded Signed to receive but One p t o indieia as when the end of the strip is being drawn from thereon, or each ticket may comprise two or more the pack;

sections, each of the sections being arranged to Fig. 10 is a detail view with apart of a ticket 55 knife and of a feed finger shown in elevation;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a portion of a strip individual ticket sections, each of which receive indicia printed thereon. Thus, for example, strips of this character may be provided in different standardized widths and to include tickets comprising different numbers of sections, while any of these strips may be printed and cut on the same machine.

As shown in Fig. 1, a typical ticket strip of the type provided by this invention may comprise a plurality of rectangular tickets T with aligned side edges extending along the sides of the strip.

These tickets may be of the'folded type and may be provided with attaching strings S at one end thereof, -if desired. Adjoining tickets T are separated by feed slots l which extend a minor fraction, of the width of the strip. At the ends of these slots are narrow necks 2 of sheet materialwhich may aflord the-only connections between adjoining tickets. The widths of both of the necks 2 at opposite ends' of a feed slot I, when added together, preferably may be distinctly less than the distance between the necks. In practice the width of each neck may be less than oneeighth inch, and preferably may be of'the order of one-sixteenth inch.

Aligned with the slots are slits 4 extending from the necks to the parallel side edges of the ticket strip. These slits extend for the major portion of the width of the strip and preferably are symmetrically disposed longitudinally of the strip relative to the slots. Such an arrangement permits the strip readily to be folded along lines extending between adjoining ticket sections T, as shown in Fig. 9, to provide a compact rectangular package which may be supplied to the user of the ticket printing machine.

When the tickets are to be fed to the printing machine, the end ticket of the strip may be lifted and'the strip unfolded to assume the zigzag form shown in Fig. 9 and in my above-identified copending application. While the narrow necks 2 permit ready folding of the long ticket strip in this manner, they are sufllciently strong so that the tickets remain attached to each other as they are fed to printing position, but they are so narrow that the tickets may be easily separated by a narrow bipartite knife I'll (Fig; 10) which may conveniently straddle a'feed finger ll engaging the corresponding feed slot between adjoining tickets. The restricted dimensions of the necks permit the knife to be actuated with a nominal pressure; either manually or mechanically, as may prove more convenient. Preferably the knife itself may be relativelynarrow,

the dimei ion of the strip between the .opposite' outer edges of the connecting necks which are out by the knife being less than one-half the overall width of the strip. It is evident that the necks themselves lie in parallel longitudinal zones of the strip, so that they are readily cut by a narrow knife as the strip is fed along a straightline path.

shown in section, and part of a cooperating short lines of indicia.

When the tickets are separated from a strip by the knife in this manner, the severed portions of the necks preferably are aligned with the slits 4 so that the ticket has a relatively smooth out edge with a shallow pre-cut reentrant 'portion formed by one-half of an original feed slot I, a ticket of this form being shown in Fig. 2. Thus the ticket has relatively smooth out edges which avoid the roughness characteristic of torn perforated edges. Y

It is to be understood that in practice the tickets may be provided "in various widths, as desired by the user, to accommodate either long or In some cases a narrow ticket may be provided having an elongate slit 4 at only one side of the feed slot 2, the corre:- spondingslit'at the other end of the slot being relatively short since the feed slot may be located near one side of the strip.

The ticket maybe printed to have a staggered line of indicia extending transversely thereof and may also have a price marking extending along its end in a direction at right angles to the staggered line of indicia, this price marking preferably being arranged at the edge of a blank area so that either the original price marking may be marked over on this portion of the ticket or it may be cut away, and a new price may be marked on the adjoining space. For this purpose a rema'rking machine of the type disclosed in my United States Patent No. 2,014,727 may be employed.

As shown in Fig. 3, a strip of this character may be provided with feed slots l', which are disposed between necks 2' similar to the necks 2 of Fig. 1. The said slots I, however, are provided with curved end surfaces which merge into slitlike extensions of each slot at the ends thereof,

' these extensions 30 being aligned with the slits 4.

Such an arrangement permits the edge surfaces of the reentrant portions of the severed ticket to merge more gradually into the edge portions which were defined by the slits 4. Thus, the ticket shown in Fig. 4 has less pronounced corners at the ends of its reentrant portions.

As shown in Fig. 5 the strip, if desired, may have slots I to the slots I shown in Fig. 3 but without the short slit-like extensions 30 that are shown in Fig. 3. Such slots I with their gradually curved end portions may be separated by narrow necks 2 from the elongate slits 4? which extend to the edges of thestrip. Thus a ticket out from such a strip may have the shape shown in Fig. 6 with shallow precut reentrant portions.' I

As shown in Fig. '7, the inner ends of slits 4" may extend to small round openings 5 which may have diameters of the order of the width of the feed slots I", it being obvious that the narrow necks 2 are arranged between the ends of the feed slots I and the round openings 5. A ticket out from the strip shownin Fig. 7 the form.

ticket which are defined by the precut slits 4 It is to be understood that the principles of the present invention may not only be employed with tickets of difierent widths, but also with tickets including a plurality of sections, each of which may receive the identifying indicia and, if desired, the price marking. A strip including such tickets T is shown in Fig. 11. The tickets T may be separated from each other by slots 1 and slits of the type shown in Fig. 1, although,

may be connected by material lying outside of thearrangements shown in Figs. 3, 5 or '1 may 'be employed if preferred. Between the sections S and S of such a ticket a feed slot 9 may be provided, this slot' being aligned with perforated lines I2 along which the sheet material may be torn to separate the ticket sections when desired, there. being slits I2 extending at right angles to lines I2 to aid the separation .of sections S from sections S. As shown in Fig. 11, the slot 9 may have a width at least as great as the combined widths of the feed slots I and the necks 2 so that the bipartite knife III, which may be actuated after each printing operation, may en-' ter-the slot 9 without necessity of cutting the material. It is evident that the strip shown in Fig. 11 may be fed forward-by a feed finger which alternately engages feed slots I and feed slots 9, so that the ticket sections are successively fed to printing position.

Fig.1?! shows. a ticket strip including multisection tickets T" separated-by slits l and slots I with necks 2 at their ends in the same manner as the tickets T of Fig. 1. As shown, these tickets may comprise four sections, the sections S and 'S being similar to similarly designated sections of the tickets T and the sections S and S being narrower and being separated from each other and from the section S in a somewhat different manner. Thus, for example, the sections 8' and S may be separated from each other by feed slots I with necks .2 at their ends. These slots I are of the same dimensions as those that separate the adjoining tickets, although the feed slot 9 between sections S and S may be of the type shown in Fig. 11. Slits 4 and 4 may extend from the necks 2 adjoining these slots 1, however, and a narrow neck of sheet material 2, having dimensions similar'to the necks 2, may be disposed at the end of the slit 4 and between that slit and a slit 4. A similar arrangement may and the adjoining section S Accordingly when a ticket of this type is fed through a machine provided with a suitable printing mechanism anda synchronized bipartite cutter, the necks 2 are severed between the adjoining tickets as well as between the ticket sections S and S and between the ticket sections S and S 'Thus the last-named sections are left attached to each other solely by the necks 2 which may readily be torn apart when the tickets are to be attached to separate articles ofa lot as, for example, to separate garments in a suit ensemble. I Under such conditions it is often desirable only to have the price marking on certain sections of the ticket as, for example, upon the sections S and S it being understood that the former ordinarily is separated from the article of merchandise andsent to the accounting oflice. Thus, for example, the sections S and S are wider than the sections S and S providing additional areas for the reception of the be provided between the ticket section S this zone and the path of the knife. Accordingly, although the knife moves between each successive section of theticket, only certain sections are entirely separated from each other, while the other sections remain connected to each other, being capable of later separation as may prove convenient.

It is evident thatthe present invention affords a simple, conveniently packed ticket strip which may be conveniently unfolded and fed to a suitable printing and cutting mechanism,the cutting mechanism being'actuated with nominal power to separate the tickets, thus to afford tickets with relatively smooth out edges interrupted only by shallow precut reentrant portions.

The ticket strips are preferably all arranged so that when the necks connecting the ticket sections are cut there are no protuberant portions aiforded by the severed neck sections to extend beyond the major portions of the edges of the ticket. Accordingly, tickets of this character may readily be received in the edge-guiding portions of a ticket remarker such as shown in my above-identified patent, such a guiding action readily taking place even after the ticket has been remarked a number of times. Furthermore, if desired, such tickets-may be readily separated from. the strip by tearing, while it is possible, if

preferred, to score the necks as the tickets are being printed so that the tickets are even more easily torn from the strip.

It is evident that tickets of this type may be provided in a standardized range of sizes to receive more or less identifying and descriptive indicia, as preferred and that such tickets may conveniently' receive price markings extending transversely of such a line of indicia, and that such tickets may be provided in multiple sections with the feed slots disposed between each of the sections.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: V e

1. Ticket strip of sheet material having a plurality of sections with feed slots extending transversely of the strip therebetween, the sheet material being provided with slits aligned with the slots, adjoining sections being connected by two narrow necks of the material disposed respectively at the ends of a feed slot, certain slots comoriginal price markings which extend transversely of the staggered line of indicia and affording spaces for additional price markings, while the sections S and S are provided without these spaces.

It. is evident that the ticket strip shown in Figs: 11 and 13 provide certain rectangular sections which are connected only by necks lying within a longitudinal zone of the strip having a width less than half the width of the strip, so

prising openings with'curved end portions having short slit-like extensions at their ends, the slits and slots providing cut edges extending nearly all of the width of the strip between certain sections.

2. Ticket strip of sheet material having a plurality of tickets with short feed slots extending transversely of the strip therebetween, the sheet material being provided with slits aligned with the slots, adjoining tickets being connected only by two narrow necks of the material disposed respectively at each end .of a feed slot, the slits and slots providing cut edges extending nearly all of the width of the strip substantially to separate the tickets, each of. said tickets including sections 'with feed slots therebetween extending transversely of the strip, the last-named slots being longer than the slots between tickets. I 3. Ticket strip of sheet' material havinga plu-- rality of tickets with feed slots extending transversely of the strip therebetween, the sheet ma- '5 terial being provided with slits aligned with the slots, adjoining tickets being connected only bytwo narrow necks of the material disposed respectively between the ends of the slots and the edges of the strip, said necks lying in parallel longitudinal zones of the strip, the slits and slots providing cut edges extending nearly all of the width of the strip substantially to separate the tickets, the necks providing narrow connecting means, each of said tickets including sections with feedvslots therebetween extending trans versely of the strip, said last-named slots at least having portions which are disposed between said longitudinal zones, there being connectingpon tions of the material between adjoining sections of the respective tickets which are separated by said last-named slots, said connecting portions lying outside of the longitudinal zones of the ticket which. include the .narrow' connecting necks.

I 4. Ticket strip of sheet material having a plurality of tickets with short feed slots extending transversely of the strip therebetween, the sheet material being provided with slits aligned with the slots, adjoining tickets being connected only by two narrow necks of the material disposed respectively at each end of a feed slot, the slits and slots providing cut edges extending nearly all of the width of the stripsubstantially to separate the tickets, the necks providing narrow connecting means, each of said tickets including sections with feed slots therebetween extending transversely of the strip, the material being weakened along lines aligned with the last-named slots whereby the ticket sections may be readily separated by tearing, one section of each ticket having a greater width than the adjoining section thereof.

5. Ticket strip of sheet material having a plurality of rectangular sections, certain sections, which are to be entirely separated by a cutter moving between each section in succession, being connected only by sheet material lying within a longitudinal zone of the strip and having a width less than half the width of the ticket, the remaining sections of the strip being connected by material lying outside of said zone.

6. Ticket strip of sheet material having a plurality of tickets with short feed slots extending transversely of the strip therebetween, the sheet material being provided with slits aligned with the slots, adjoining tickets being connected only by two narrow necks of the material disposed respectively at each end of a feed slot, the slits and slots providing cut edges extending nearly all of the width of the strip substantially to separate the tickets, the necks providing narrow connecting means, each of said tickets including sections with feed slots therebetween extending transversely of the strip, there being three necks connecting adjoining sections of a ticket; two of said last-named necks being at opposite ends of a feed slot, the third neck being spaced from the other two necks, the material being slit adjoining the necks along lines in alignment with the slot.

7. Ticket strip of sheet material having a plurality of rectangular sections with feed slots therebetween, certain sections being connected which are to be entirely separated by a cutter moving between each section in succession, being connected only by portions of the sheet material lying within two spaced parallel longitudinal zones of the strip, the remaining sections of the strip being connected by material outside of said zones.

9. Ticket strip of sheet material having opposite parallel edges and comprising a plurality of tickets separated by short feed slots and by elongate slits extending at right angles to said edges and in alignment with said slots, adjoining tickets being connected only by two narrow necks of the material disposed respectively at each end of a feed slot, the slits and slots providing cut edges extending nearly all of the width of the strip, the slots and. slits being arranged so that the necks may be cut on lines in alignment with the slits to afford separate rectangular tickets with opposite cut edges each of which is free f1 om projections and is straight for the major portion of the width of the ticket, but each of which is interrupted by a reentrant portion provided by a part of a feed slot of the strip.

10. Ticket strip of sheet material having opposite parallel edges and comprising a plurality of tickets separated by short feed slots and by elongate slits extending at right angles to said edges and in alignment with said slots, adjoining tickets being connected only by two'narrow necks of the material disposed respectively at each end of a feed slot, certain slots comprising openings with slit-like extensions at their ends, the slits and slots providing cut edges extending nearly all of the width of the strip, the slots and slits being arranged so that the necks may be cut on lines in alignment with the slits and slit-like extensions to afford separate rectangular tickets with opposite cut edges each of which is free from projections and is straight for the, major portion of the width of the ticket, but each of which is interrupted by a reentrant portion provided by a part of a feed slot of the strip.

CARL A. FLOOD. 

